Summary
Summary
In 1969, I was teaching at two seminaries inthe Chicago area. One of my courses wason the parables by Jesus and the other wason the resurrection stories about Jesus. I hadobserved that the parabolic stories by Jesusseemed remarkably similar to the resurrectionstories about Jesus. Were the latter intended asparables just as much as the former? Had webeen reading parable, presuming history, andmisunderstanding both?
--from The Power of Parable
So begins the quest of renowned Jesus scholarJohn Dominic Crossan as he unlocks the truemeanings and purposes of parable in the Bible sothat modern Christians can respond genuinely toJesus's call to fully participate in the kingdom ofGod. In The Power of Parable, Crossan examinesJesus's parables and identifies what he calls the"challenge parable" as Jesus's chosen teaching toolfor gently urging his followers to probe, question,and debate the ideological absolutes of religiousfaith and the presuppositions of social, political,and economic traditions.
Moving from parables by Jesus to parables aboutJesus, Crossan then presents the four gospels as"megaparables." By revealing how the gospels arenot reflections of the actual biography of Jesus butrather (mis)interpretations by the gospel writersthemselves, Crossan reaffirms the power of parablesto challenge and enable us to co-create withGod a world of justice, love, and peace.
Author Notes
Considered by many to be the most learned scholar on the topic of Jesus Christ, John Dominic Crossan's adversaries question how he reconciles his Catholic faith with 20th century secular study. A former priest, Crossan is the author of The Essential Jesus: Original Sayings and Earliest Images, The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant, Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography; The Birth of Christianity: Discovering What Happened in the Years Immediately After the Execution of Jesus, and The Cross That Spoke: The Origins of the Passion Narrative, among others.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* One of the most insightful and thought-provoking exegetes of the New Testament says both the little stories Jesus tells in the extant versions of the Gospel and the big stories of Jesus' life that the four canonic versions tell are parables. While explaining the purposes of parable as riddles to limit group membership, as examples of desirable behavior, as challenges to common practices and understandings, and as attacks on enemies Crossan also establishes the form's tradition in ancient Mediterranean culture by citing parables that both ante- and postdate Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and their contemporaries in early Christian literature. (His discussions of particular parables of Jesus are usually keenly illuminating; e.g., that of the parable of the talents or, as he calls it, the Master's Money.) Crossan thinks the challenge parable is the most characteristic of Jesus as the pacific revolutionary he believes him to have been. When followers took up Jesus' cause and wrote up the Gospel, however, they injected ever greater doses of denouncing their enemies the Jews (though the denouncers were also Jews) to the shame of the church ever since. Crossan's exceptional clarity and methodical presentation combine to make this one of the best, most enthralling Bible-study courses many readers will ever take.--Olson, Ray Copyright 2010 Booklist
Choice Review
The Power of Parable is Crossan (emer., DePaul Univ.) at his provocative best. He argues that Jesus chose a model for his parables that was readily available in the ancient Mediterranean world. He admits that some parables of Jesus are riddle parables or example parables, but he argues quite cogently that the primary category of Jesus's parables was the challenge parable. Crossan takes not just individual stories but entire books as parables. He begins by demonstrating from the Jewish Scriptures that the books of Ruth, Jonah, and Job were challenge parables. Ruth, being presented as the great-grandmother of King David, challenged the command in Deuteronomy that no Moabite or Ammonite was to be admitted to the assembly of the Lord (Deut. 23:3). Jonah challenged all of those Scriptures by dispelling the "evil Assyrian" myth that pervades them. Job challenged the God of the Scriptures. These, along with secular parables, provided a blueprint for Jesus's parables. Crossan then takes the Gospels individually and analyzes them, concluding that some are challenge parables, some attack parables, and some both. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through researchers/faculty. J. E. Lunceford Georgetown College
Library Journal Review
Crossan (emeritus, DePaul Univ.; The Greatest Prayer; The Historical Jesus) is one of the most admired as well as one of the most controversial scholars of the New Testament in general and the life of Jesus in particular. His latest book examines the ways that the teaching method of Jesus, who challenged his audiences with the parable, an early form of fiction, came to be applied to Jesus's own life story and argues that we should be wary of applying literal historical standards to texts from the ancient world. VERDICT A fascinating book, written with Crossan's usual lucidity but likely to disturb conservative Christians; a must for most academic and seminary libraries as well as many church groups and pastors. (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.